Freedom Capital Upgrades Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) to “Strong-Buy”

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Freedom Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $25.00 price target on shares of Mosaic in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Mosaic from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Mosaic from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Mosaic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $33.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reduced their price target on shares of Mosaic from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.41.

Mosaic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOS opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.33. Mosaic has a fifty-two week low of $19.80 and a fifty-two week high of $38.23. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 172.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Mosaic had a net margin of 0.36% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mosaic will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mosaic

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MOS. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 27.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Mosaic in the first quarter worth $201,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Mosaic by 170.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Mosaic by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Mosaic by 169.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

About Mosaic

Mosaic Co is one of the world’s leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. The company’s primary business activities center on the extraction, processing and distribution of phosphate rock, phosphate-based fertilizers and potash products. These core nutrients are essential components in modern agriculture, supporting crop yields and soil health across a range of farming applications.

In its phosphate segment, Mosaic operates mining and production facilities that convert phosphate rock into concentrated phosphates, finished phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates for animal nutrition.